Vytenis

This article deals with the Grand Duke of Lithuania. For further meanings see Vytenis (first name) .

Vytenis, Grand Duke of Lithuania (history portrait)

Vytenis († 1316 ) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1295 . As the son of Grand Duke Butvydas (also: Pukuwer, Pukuveras), he was prepared to take over rule at an early age.

Life

Vytenis ruled in times when Lithuania's grand dukes were involved in intense disputes with the Teutonic Order , Poland , and the Ruthenian principalities of the former Kievan Rus .

Vytenis undertook an invasion with 800 warriors (vytis) in Mazovia while still crown prince and even reached Łęczyca . During his war with the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order , Vytenis took advantage of a serious dispute between the Order and the Archbishop of Riga to pursue his own goals (Vytenis stationed a force of 1000 warriors in Riga in 1298 at the request of the Archbishop ).

Around 1312 Vytenis invited Franciscans to Lithuania . It is believed that the first Catholic church was built in Vilnius at that time . Recent archaeological research shows that Vilnius was transformed from a small settlement of arable citizens and traders into a town during Vytenis' reign .

The more recent research also suspects that during the reign of Vytenis Gediminas already held an important position in the Lithuanian empire, which is why he, and not the legitimate son of Vytenis, Žvelgaitis, was elected Grand Duke after the death of his father.

literature

• Michael Müller-Wille (Ed.): Rome and Byzantium in the North: Mission and Change of Faith in the Baltic Sea Region during the 8th – 14th centuries. Century . tape II . Franz Steiner Verlag , Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 978-3-515-07498-8 , pp. 118 ( online [accessed July 18, 2009]).
• SC Rowell: Lithuania Ascending. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994, pp. 54ff.

predecessor	Office	successor
Budvydas	Grand Duke of Lithuania 1295–1316	Gediminas